Hungry bar crawlers and lunch-seeking East Siders can rejoice: there's a new pizza place in the neighborhood, and you're gonna like it.
Ian's Pizza By The Slice, already a staple in Madison and in Chicago's Wrigleyville, neighborhood opened on New Year's Eve at 2035 E. North Ave., to a line out the door, according to General Manager Ryan Donovan.
"At 10 p.m. when we opened the door, there were like eight people standing outside," says Donovan. "Some of them knew about us from Madison."
Open from 11 a.m. to "bar time" -- that's sometime after 2:30 a.m., or whenever customers stop arriving -- Ian's serves up something different than your average slice.
A rotating menu offers lots of different choices, options like Philly Cheesesteak pizza, chicken and mashed potato pizza, or quesadilla pizza.
You can get a slice of cheese and sausage for $2.50, but all the other slices cost the same at $3.50 -- and they're way more fun.
Of course, Milwaukee -- and specifically, the East Side -- offers no shortage of well-known pizza places, some that stay open late, like Ian's neighbor, Topper's.
But at this new place, it's all about the slice.
"We're probably faster than most fast-food places," says Donovan. Pizzas are par baked, then thrown in the oven for a quick finish -- from order to eating takes but a few minutes.
Ian's was founded in 2001 by Amhurst University grad Ian Gurfield, who opened his first restaurant on Madison's North Frances Street and University Avenue.
Now, each of the four locations has its own identity, says Donovan. Madison's State Street location gets a good lunch crowd, while Chicago's is more oriented toward late-night dining.
"Here, we're hoping for both," Donovan says.
At the moment, Ian's is rather Spartan, with bare orange walls devoid of even menus, but those are coming soon.
Donovan says, this way, the customers talk to the staff, which is more than willing to explain what's up with the black bean feta avocado tomato slice or the chili cheese burrito pizza.
Additionally, Donovan says the location may soon open a salad bar -- a option recently added in Madison -- sourced with local ingredients when they're in season.
Ian's will also do delivery, but right now, Donovan is still hiring drivers and hoping to begin that phase of the business when the UW-Milwaukee semester starts in a few weeks.
Andy is the president, publisher and founder of OnMilwaukee. He returned to Milwaukee in 1996 after living on the East Coast for nine years, where he wrote for The Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau and worked in the White House Office of Communications. He was also Associate Editor of The GW Hatchet, his college newspaper at The George Washington University.
Before launching OnMilwaukee.com in 1998 at age 23, he worked in public relations for two Milwaukee firms, most of the time daydreaming about starting his own publication.
Hobbies include running when he finds the time, fixing the rust on his '75 MGB, mowing the lawn at his cottage in the Northwoods, and making an annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for Brewers Spring Training.
